Bad Vibrations

A night of chips and dips at the Tempe Block Party, a dirge for old Mill Avenue

A A A Comments By Bob Mehr Thursday, Jan 6 2000

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So that's how the millennium culminated, with an epiphany. Mill Avenue -- the place of such potential and charm that I had first encountered a decade ago -- was gone, if not physically, then at least in spirit.

As someone who left his home and family because he was genuinely attracted by the promise of living in downtown Tempe, it was a difficult truth to confront. But the reality is that Mill Avenue has no real future. To paraphrase one great social chronicler of the punk variety, its future dream really is a shopping scheme.

Sweet and loathsome: Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath whips the crowd into a pallid indifference.

Troy Aossey

"What's your favorite brand of chips, baby?" Ecstatic Block Party revelers enjoying the midnight celebration.

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The lesson I took away from Cannery Row was that there will always be pockets of resistance; always some glimmer of hope. If New Year's Eve is ostensibly a celebration of life and the promise of the future, then the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Block Party did not completely destroy my optimism.

The hope for love, happiness and community will always be there, even if the old Mill Avenue isn't.

Contact Bob Mehr at his online address: bob.mehr@newtimes.com

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